Google pledges $10m to help Palestinian graduates and tech entrepreneurs

The California-based company will support young adults in advancing their digital skills and finding employment

Ruth Porat, Google’s chief financial officer, centre, with Palestinian entrepreneurs and business leaders in East Jerusalem. Photo: Google

Google has committed to invest $10 million over the next three years to support Palestinian app developers, entrepreneurs and graduates who hold technology-related degrees.

The funding will help them to improve their tech knowledge, advance their digital skills and find employment, the Alphabet-owned company announced on Wednesday.

“We are committed to helping Palestinian graduates, app developers and tech entrepreneurs unlock more opportunities by providing skills training, facilitating connections to financing, increasing access to jobs and more,” said Ruth Porat, the company’s chief financial officer.

Ms Porat made the announcement at a round-table discussion with Palestinian entrepreneurs and business leaders on Wednesday.

The California-based company said it would work with partners from the private, public and non-profit sectors to help Palestinians develop the skills they need to find suitable roles in the tech industry, both locally and elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa.

The new initiative will have four pillars – developing advanced tech skills, mentoring and building expertise in non-technical fields, providing access to job opportunities and connecting Palestinians with sources of financing.

Under the initiative, Google and its partners will offer a programme in mobile, cloud and artificial intelligence app development. The training will be offered in Arabic, both online and in person.

The company will also work to match Palestinians participating in the programme with funding opportunities, provide grants for access to incubators and co-working spaces, and offer in-kind contributions such as Google Cloud and Google Play credits. It will also organise job fairs at which participants can meet potential employers.

Google already has career development programmes in the region. The internet company’s Arabic digital skills training programme Maharat Min Google has supported more than one million people and businesses in the region, it said.

“At Google, we know that our efforts will always be most effective when we can work together with others in the private sector, public sector and NGOs,” Ms Porat said.

“We look forward to partnering with many across the region to expand upon our existing digital skills programmes and provide Palestinians with the tools they need to succeed.”

In December, Google.org – the philanthropic arm of the company – established a $1.3m fund to equip women, people with disabilities and refugees in the Mena region with the digital skills needed to run businesses and boost their career opportunities.

Three non-profit organisations – Cairo-based Helm, Amman-based Idare and Amsterdam-based Spark – are the beneficiaries of the grants, receiving $400,000, $300,000 and $600,000, respectively. The funds will be used to reach out to people with diverse backgrounds in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and the UAE, the company said.